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Vol. XIV.
LINCOLN, NEB., NOV. 6, 1902.
No. 24.
VICTORY FOR THE RAILROADS.
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Bulletins "Issued Under Authority of The Railroads of Nebraska"
Have the Desired Effect.
"OUR MAN" MICKEY PROBABLY ELECTED.
Returns Seem to Indicate Election of Mickey By a Very Close Mar
gin. Resurns Coming In Slowly.
.
Nebraska has again gone republican
by a very small margin. Lulled to sleep
by the cry of "Let well enough alone"
thousands of fanners who are not re
publicans shucked corn Tuesday and
again permitted a republican victory
for there is no gainsaying the fact
that of the qualified electors of Ne
braska considerably less than a ma
jority are republictns.
.The election of governor is still in
doubt at this . writing (Thursday
noon). Thompson carried Douglas
county by near 2,500; he carried his
home county (Hall) by nearly 500, al
though it is normally about 200 repub
lican. And he carried Mickey's home
county (Polk) by over 400. The Oma
ha . Bee gives a schedule containing
purported complete returns from 49
counties showing as follows:
Mickey 65,780
Thompson .......63,588
' Plurality . 2,192
- The same counties in 1900 gave:
Dietrich .78,817
Poynter ......78,429
"'.Plurality ... 388
- Included in this schedule is Douglas
county, which in 1900 gave Dietrich
884 plurality, and this year gives
Thompson nearly 2,500, which would
r. seem to indicate that Mickey is run
ning better in the country districts
than Dietrich did. The Bee's schedule,
however, contains numerous errors;
one in Howard county alone gives
Mickey 1,000 votes more than he real
ly received. It will doubtless take
the official count to decide.
The remaining republican candi
dates for state office are elected be
yond 4a doubt. They carried Douglas
county by close to a thousand, giving
them a much stronger lead than
Mickey. The fusion candidates are
running well up to Thompson in most
places except Douglas and Hall. Aside
from governor and lieutenant gov
ernor, "Uncle" John Powers ran ahead
of the rest of the fusion state candi
dates in Douglas.
, Hitchcock was victorious in the sec
ond congressional district, defeating
Non-Resident Mercer by about 2,000.
This is not only a victory for the fu
sionists of the Second district, of
which they may well be proud, but it
will also settle the matter for some
time to come that Edward Rosewater
and the Omaha Bee must be reckoned
with by the republican party of Ne-
. braska if it hopes to win.
; r The republicans carried all the other
districts, defeating Hanks in the First,
Robinson in the Third, Stark in the
Fourth, Shallenberger in the Fifth
; and Barry in the Sixth. In addition
. to "sustaining Roosevelt" by the elec
tion of five republican congre? 'men
, from Nebraska, the railroads rejoice
over Burlington Burkett and Norris,
- Elkhorn McCarthy. Rock Island Hin
. shaw, and Union Pacific-Elkhorn Kin-
kald, who may be depended upon to
: look after, the interests of their re
spective masters in all matters where
railroad interests are adverse to those
of the people generally.
The thirty thousand dollars ex
. pended "under authority of the rail
roads of Nebraska" was money well
spent It will save these roads over
a million dollars' in taxes the next
two years. It will enable them to
charge "all that the traffic will bear"
without any annoying legislation at
tempting to regulate rates. And the
other taxpayers will have to pay this
extra million of taxes out of their
- own incomes and products, because
several thousand men wanted to earn
: a couple of dollars each by shucking
corn Tuesday. The election of the
republican state ticket means that a
majority of those who take sufficient
interest to get out and vote, prefer to
let the railroads escape payment of
half a million dollars in taxes every
year. It is a victory for tax-shirking
on a big scale.
Speaking plainly the election means
that the people of Nebraska love to be
humbugged and robbed. They have
indorsed the pardon of Bartley.. They
have approved the burning of the Nor
folk asylum and the penitentiary.
They admire Prout's incompetency as
attorney general; they applaud his acts
as solicitor of insurance for old-line
companies. They are gratified that he
dismissed or lost every case in which
the state was interested. .
The people of Nebraska (that is, a
majority of those who have the spunk
to cast a freeman's ballot) seem to love
anarchy; hence, they elect the repub
lican ticket, for republican officers are
notorious for their open violation of
law. They have approved Secretary
Marsh's violation . of the ballot law
a matter about which he told numer
ous lies. They have approved . the
bond deals of the state board of edu
cational lands and funds, by which
the state wjjj,rnhbeH of veral thou
sand dollars in interest coupons. They
have approved the action of the state
board of equalization. ,
In the face of impending conditions,
however, The Independent Is. by. no
"means despondent over the result The
congress and. president are republican,
and upon them must rest the respon
sibility for financial conditions the
next two years. Within that time will
be demonstrated the-evils of republi
can finailial policies, or The Inde
pendent does not read the signs
aright. This time "the threat against
the tariff" will not avail them as an
excuse for a panic. When it comes
as it is sure to come the republican
party must alone bear the responsibil
ity. In the state a similar condition
exists. The state debt will pile up
the next two years enormously, un
less the legislature this winter shall
amend the revenue law so that heav
ier taxes may be levied. The problem
of what to do with the idle school
funds will make Treasurer Mortensen's
life miserable, because Treasurer
Stuefer has been extremely fortunate
in securing investments for the large
ly increased receipts, in his term and
has about swept the platter of all
county bonds in sight. The Indepen
dent would not be surprised to see a
balance of two millions of idle school
funds within the next two years.
Chairman Weber telephoned The In
dependent late Thursday that he had
returns from 61 counties which seem
to indicate Mickey's election by. three
to four thousand. The figures were:
Mickey .....",.78 215
Thompson 74,267
Plurality ... 3,948
The same counties gave:
Dietrich ,..'..,.,.93.932
Poynter ............92.639
Plurality 1,293
The remaining counties will doubt
less cut down Mickey's present ma
jority over Thompson.
UNITED STATES SENATORS.
Mr. Brido DUchim thm CUetloa of U. .
Senator by Popular VU.
Editor Independent: When the ad
vocates of the present method of elect
ing senators can find no other cradle
in which to lar their child; when
they cannot reconcile It wltB lta pres
ent abuses; when they cannot de
fend its ppposition to- the true prin
ciples of a popular government, they
fail back on their old cry that it is
the method provided by the constitu
tion. I have just as much love for
that sacred instrument of our liber
ties as any true American; but recog
nizing that its good has been per
verted in this regard, I eagerly -combat
for the democratic! principles upon
which the republioas based. :
You , are told ,- that we must not
change the constitution because it is
a time-honored, well-behaved lad.
Who, I ask, is its best friend, he who
flatters and worships, or he who, see
ing that evil exists, reproves and cor
rects it? He who would make such
alterations as changed conditions nec
essitate, or he who, recognizing that
wrongs exist, is blind or careless as
to their remedy? "Spare the rod and
spoil the child," is an old motto and
still a good one.
The framers of this great bulwark
of our nation, conceding the probable
necessity for amendments, did not
leave the question either as to the
right to amend or the , method of do
ing it in abeyance; but with that wis-,
dom and foresight, which so clearly
marked their every deliberation, pro
vided both the manner and the means
of accomplishing this result and of
curing all the evils that existed in
the embryo government. It is a pow
er which the people have taken on
several occasions each time adding
strength to the keystone of the arch
of our advancement, each time paving
the way for the smooth progress of the
car of state on its journey toward
"equal rights to all, special privileges
to none." '
Those opposed to the popular elec
tion of senators give showers of rea
sons why we should not change - the
methods now in vogue, but their craf
ty logic,-when boiled down to its ulti
mate conclusion, states the two prin
ciples or propositions advanced by ev
ery opponent, of the world's progress.
They tell , us, you must prove that
there are evils in the present system,
and when we have lavished them with
the evils and deluged them with in
stances of it, they reply, prove that
your remedy will cure these evils
establish your panacea. This we feel
prepared to do.
The principle objection is based
upon the false theory that a change in
the manner of electing senators will
operate to change the very organiza
tion of our government. And in their
rambllngs from the way, they will
tell you that the reform asked would
destroy the relations not only which
the senators bear to the individual
states, but that the states themselves
would stand in a different homology
to tin nation. Nothing could be fur
ther from the real truth of the propo
sition. We do not propose to change
the relationship of the senate to the
states individually, what we demand is
that the people shall do, what they
now do indirectly and instead of hav
ing the senators elected by the legis
lature, that the people as citizens of
the state and as makers of the legisla
ture, shall do it themselves. We
would change the senate but in this
one particular.
In each step toward the election of
a senator under the present method,
there are chances for fraud and when
ever there are chances there are in
stances. In my advance I shall cite
cases to prove each point, but I would
not have you believe that because I
cite but one case there are no others.
One citation that there has been wrong
will prove that there is a possibility for
wrong, and wherever wrong is possi
ble, there will be found those unscrup
ulous to commit it. - ,
It will be argued that if we take
from . the legislatures the power to
nominate and elect the members of
the. national senate, if we take from
them their ability to mingle in the
ultra-national affairs, that their stand
ard will be lowered, that their plane
would be decreased and the falling
tide of the people's confidence In them
would completely ebb away. We agree
with them that the legislatures have
sunk below what should be their
standard, we agree with them that the
legislatures are not held in the respect
that they should be. What Is the rea
son? Let us seek the logical conclu
sion, let us sift the matter to the very
dregs, and from a known result, find
out a source equally as clear to him
who would look, equally as clear to
him who would dig below the Burface.
In the very formation of the legis
lative districts there are chances for
evil, and this evil may be caused by
the legislature itself. The districts
are so arranged that the party doing
the scheming has far the better chance
when the time comes to elect This
system is known as the Gerrymander
and is one of the worst ways in which
to stifle public opinion. It did not ex
ist, nor was it known, until the days
of Elbridge Gerry, who so carved up
the state of Massachusetts that in
spite of an immense popular adversity,
succeeded in electing his ticket The
infant did not die In its youth, but
in the election of 1856 when Abraham
Lincoln carried the state of Illinois
by a large majority, yet in spite of
this fact, his opponent, Judge Dou
glas, succeeded in winning. The state
was so carved up into legislative TUs
tricts that a minority of the people
were in control of the legislature, and
the country was denied the services of
the immortal Lincoln in that period
which so tried men's souls. But I need
not go back forty years. In 1892 in
the same state we find one ; political
party carrying the state by about
thirty, thousand votes, yet having but
a bare majority In the legislature.
For months the legislature balloted
on and on no agreement could be
reached, until one of ' the . members
died, and the party which hau so
strongly polled the vote of the state,
succeeded In electing their man. I
am sure that the opposition, realizing
the great evil of the Gerrymander,
will not attempt its vindication. And
yet, behind this, how many United
States senators hasve gotten their
seats? The review of fhe elections in
Connecticut for the past twenty years
will prove the truth of our state- :
ments. Our opponents cannot justify
this loathsome evil at, the very birth-?
place of their schemes..
Let us pass on to the fight for elec
tion to the state legislature; the can
dldafeHis'nonililated "and the race is
being run to see who will represent
the district in . the legislature. A
United States senator Is to be elected
and the fight wages on national issues.
We never hear it asked of the candi-r
date how he stands on the question of
state taxation, we never query as to
his opinion on the public highways, it
ts never realized that the man to be
elected will help carry on the busi
ness of the state. All Is obscured save
a seat in the United States senate.
The ability of the candidate on ques
tions of general legislation is entirely
obscured by the bigger game a seat in
the senate. So I say that the real
business of the state is disturbed, its
necessities overlooked, and its very
welfare threatened at each race for
senatorial honors. The result of the
v hcle performance is that the legisla
tes are very often elected because of
their support of certain candidates;
and, secondly, and more potent, that
in state elections when state issues are
involved, national platforms are made
the fight. I tell you. that if a state
gets a good legislature under these
circumstances, it is by the act of a
great and gracious Providence and
not through any wisdom or foresight
of the method provided.
We are told that our change would
have little effect on the Individual
voter. It places him in this dilemma,
that if he favors the state policy of
one political party and the national
issues advanced by the other, he must
swallow the lesser of two evils and be
satisfied. In support of this state
ment, let me cite the Instance in Iowa
in 1890, when it ws well known that
the people of the state were disgusted
with the management of the state by
the party then in power; and it was
as well known that the national policy
of the other party was equally as ob
noxious. What was this party-laden
voter to do on election day? It was
the fault of the system and not his
own fault that he did not vot6 to suit
his conscience. He must either swal
low the state policy of the republicans
In order to give his national party, the
republicans, a seat in the senate, or he
must choose an equally repugnant
democratic national policy Cu order to
rebuke the state government of the
other party. What must he do? Solve
this dilemma. all ye who oppose the
popular election. 1
The election Is over and the domi
nant party meets in its caucus to de-
f
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